Thursday, February 21, 2013

21 February 1974 - Best Arrested

On 21 February 1974, George Best, recently retired from Manchester United, was arrested on charges of burglary and theft.

The superstar winger had last played for United the previous month after a falling out with manager Tommy Docherty and spent the intervening days in a series of flings, including a high-profile outing in London with the newly-crowned Miss World, Marjorie Wallace (pictured, with Best), a few days earlier.

But his relationship with Miss Wallace apparently soured quickly. When a collection of items disappeared from her apartment, including a fur coat, some jewelry, and about £20 worth of alcohol, she called the police, who arrested Best at his Manchester nightclub, Slack Alice, in the early hours of the morning on 21 February. They interviewed him for about five hours, then drove him down to London for formal charges.

He denied any wrongdoing and the case was dropped in April when Miss Wallace failed to appear for the trial. In dismissing the charges, the judge noted that, under the circumstances, they left no stain on Best's character.